I asked Peter Turner whether Pearce had been laicized yet, and if not, whether he would be by the time he left prison. He has written the following in reply.
It is anticipated that by the time of his release from prison Fr David Pearce will be laicised.Anticipated. Not certain. Especially as it is up to Rome, not the church in the UK. I have a sneaking suspicion that he will still be a priest on the day he comes out of prison. I'll keep you posted on anything I learn on the subject.
UPDATE 10 February
I have just received an email from Peter Turner in which he says "I can now confirm that the laicisation process regarding David Pearce is now completed."
Good.
Who is Peter Turner?
ReplyDeleteHe's the diocesan safeguarding adviser for the diocese of Westminster.
ReplyDeleteThe 'laicisation process'... Sounds so abstract, distant and vague, no? I'd have a whole lot more time for the Church if it was more like the "we've kicked the foul criminal pervert who has tainted literally hundreds of lives out of our Church because we are so disgusted and appalled by what he did process".
ReplyDeleteBut maybe that's just me...
How long before Shipperlee invites Pearce to return to Ealing Abbey?
ReplyDeleteNo indication has been given how the Governace will financially be split.
ReplyDeleteThe Abbey has been responsible and supported the school, have paid the bills and salaries. Not to mention the compensation which needs to be paid to the victims of abuse, will the school be responsible for this ?
Fees at the school will certainly go up once the Governance of the school is separate. De Cintra I believe is working on this at the moment.
The Parish of Ealing Abbey owns a large estate, parishioner's give large sums of money through legacies to be used by the Abbey and the school.
In recent times St Benedict's school was given a huge amount of money to build the new Cloisters at the school by the Abbot and Governors of Ealing Abbey which I believe ran in to millions.
How will the school survive unless school fees go up again, salaries are frozen redundancies are made. Where will the many teachers live if the accommodation goes as well.
10:01
DeleteAll that is happening is a new trust is being formed to run the school which will pay rent in some format or another. The new trust will be relatively asset free, but will need to purchase FFE from the old trust at a knock down asset value.
Schools are cash flow positive, so it is all very easy.
BUT
There is a very important point to consider here. One needs to be assured by the Abbey Trust that it is not going to swerve future abuse claims against it when it owned and operated the "school." In light of Carlile's recommendation (there was only one was there not? maybe two, but nothing to do with safeguarding - hopeless!) this restructuring presents an opportunity to manoeuvre the Abbey into clear water of a new company and dumping contingent liabilities off a cliff.
I can name a nursery company that moved one of its settings into a new company which meant Ofsted did not inspect against the death of a child on the premises. In practical terms it expunged the child and the event very conveniently from its records and extended significantly the long battle of the parents. In the Coroners ring the MD of the firm calmly informed the court he had no need to take this action when he did. The ultimate ‘f’ off to the child’s parents. The shower that run St Benedict’s are no better.
So I do suggest a letter to the trustees asking them to inform you of their intentions for the current trust that owns and operates the school, and keep a look out for the double shimmy.
There are never any clean redundancies at the Trust of St Benedicts. Those who are laid off are usually bullied out of their jobs. Those who do stand up to the management can kiss goodbye to anything other than an ice age pay freeze.
DeleteLaicisation (or defrocking for those not conversant with Roman Catholic terminology) is not, as many believe, the removal of someone from the bounds of ordination. The sacrament of ordination confers what they call an indelible spiritual mark which can never be removed.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
"...it remains for ever in the Christian as a positive disposition for grace, a promise and guarantee of divine protection, and as a vocation to divine worship and to the service of the Church."
While a laicised monk is forbidden to exercise his ministerial duties and functions, he retains his priestly character. As the monks chanted during Pearce’s ordination ceremony, "you are a priest forever." In effect, he is a priest without having to act as one. That also means that he is free to do whatever he wants without being answerable to anyone, and without being controlled by anyone.
And, according to new instructions to bishops by Cardinal Dias, laicised ministers are encouraged to teach theology in schools or universities, make contact with the parish where they used to serve and offer communion.
Let us not forget that Pearce abused after being confirmed by the courts as an abuser, while the abbey was supposed to be monitoring him. Without any monitoring in place beyond the laughably light-touch of the sex offenders register, and without any management of his position and location, we are now in greater danger than before.
That said, it was entirely right that he should have been removed form the priesthood - he is a twisted pervert who used and abused his position of trust to perform appalling acts of brutality and deviance on those who could not defend or protect themselves. Something more, however, needs to be done; not just to protect Pearce, but to defend the greater community, wherever that might be.
10.01 and what if the sky falls in? oh woe, woe
ReplyDeleteexcomunication nothing less. really he should be on a gps type tracker tag so he cannot lie about where he has been or when he was there. that should save chillman the embaressment of having to hide him. an all seeing eye if you like.
ReplyDeleteI did not have time to go to the parents forum last night, did anyone ask any questions regarding the Governance split?
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you think he is due for release 'shortly'? He did not handed down a 'half and half' sentence as far as I can glean from the press reports. I would imagine he will serve two thirds of the five year term, assuming he was of good behaviour in jail.
ReplyDeleteNah...all the questions were on the new timetable changes in the school...
ReplyDeleteIt seems the hard decisions are to come...do we go from 8 period a day to 6 periods a day over a 2 week cycle....decisions....
I'm fairly sure that I read in The Times that he was due for release in mid March (2012).
ReplyDeleteAs a result of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 all prisoners are entitled to be released at the halfway point of their sentence. They then serve the rest of their sentence on licence in the community. During that period they are liable to recall to serve the remainder of their sentence if their behaviour warrants it. Pearce will also be subject to the Sex Offenders Register for the rest of his life. Breach of the registration requirements is itself a criminal offence.
ReplyDeleteHaving said all that what he really needs is a damn good kicking.
As a result of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 all prisoners are entitled to be released at the halfway point of their sentence. They then serve the rest of their sentence on licence in the community. During that period they are liable to recall to serve the remainder of their sentence if their behaviour warrants it. Pearce will also be subject to the Sex Offenders Register for the rest of his life. Breach of the registration requirements is itself a criminal offence.
ReplyDeletei think in that case that we observe, who exactly will be mr pearce s licencee. I imagine it will be another peadophile the police know about but can do nothing about. pearce will be saying mass at ealling abbey in no time. in his head and the people around him ' he has done no wrong ' I remember the manner in which we were made to believe that black was white by persons like soper. by the way thank you to the lads on the bus for singing me in to the song, it actually stopped me getting seriously sexually assaulted' father pearce keep your hands off me '''' that would have been about 1980 cheers
ReplyDeleteI think it is also important to remember that while he may no longer be able to function as a priest he may or may not still be Dom David-I was not clear from the above whether he is also to be released from his monastic vows. Those 'work' differently canonically and theologically from ordination in that they do not give the person a permanent character, and a person relessed from religious vows is no longer a religious.
ReplyDeleteAn English Benedictine monk who is not able to function as a priest and presumably has to live under close constraints for safety isn't a great deal of use to his community.
@01.36. Most of the crimes for which Pearce was sentenced do not come under the scope of the CJ Act 2003. They were committed before the Act came into force. He is not subject to automatic release after serving half his sentence. Thankfully he will be in jail rather longer.
ReplyDelete02:41
ReplyDeleteNot so. I attended Pearce's sentencing hearing. The judge made it perfectly clear that he was sentencing Pearce to 8 years, of which he would serve half and the other half would be suspended.
The sentence was reduced to five years on appeal. So, since Pearce was sentenced & imprisoned in November 2009, he should be being released in April 2012, after 2 and a half years.
I can't argue with you as I was not there when he was sentenced. However, I fail to see how his incarceration can be determined by an act passed after most of his crimes were committed. Doubtless you will advise blog readers when he is released and we will see who is right. I hope I am as the longer he is in jail, the better!
ReplyDeleteI did not attend St Benedict's although I have attended services at the Abbey and had some connection in the past with a number of the monks, and know two ex-students.
ReplyDeleteI greatly admire the way Jonathan West has set up this forum and the work he and other contributors have done here over many years.
The emotional effect on me of reading these many posts over the last 24 hours has set me thinking about my own experiences at a prep school in Sussex in the 1960s, Claremont School. In particular, the sexually motivated beating of boys by the abbot, Laurence Soper reminded me of the year of terror inflicted on the boys by the headmaster of Claremont, Ronald Charles Cleveland during 1963, until he was dismissed for reasons that were never made clear by the school.
The first night of his first term he beat a boy, which set the patterns for his abusive behavior for the next year. These included lining boys up in rows over the billiard table and beating them, giving boys a choice of “bat or stick,” then making them fetch the item and hand it to him in a ritualistic manner. Beatings were often carried out without trousers or pants. Following a beating boys were sometimes told to take baths on their own for a week in a separate bathroom, supervised by Cleveland. On other occasions he would ask to see “your postmarks,” his infantile term for the bruising caused by his canings. One boy was beaten black and blue for using his fork the “wrong way.”
He seemed to be obsessed with catching any sexual activity amongst the boys, even going so far as to have the dormitories rewired so that he could switch the lights on from outside the glass door when on the prowl for victims at night. Another seemingly harmless innovation was the installation of showers to replace the footbaths which had been used previously. Needless to say Cleveland always supervised the showers and would insist on “no false modesty.” When boys began to complain to their parents on outings, he switched his focus to boys whose parents lived overseas.
About 18 years ago I attended sessions of Nick Duffel’s Boarding School Survivors and was advised to file a complaint with the police (at that time, in 1993, Cleveland would have been about 63 and might have still been involved with teaching; he was also a scoutmaster). For reason that have been widely discussed on this blog, I did not feel ready to break my anonymity and to approach what I felt might be an unsympathetic audience in the police. I have regularly searched the Internet for information about Cleveland and found none, so I wanted to at least put this out there in case there are any other old boys from Claremont School who feel that they have been harmed in any way by Ronald Cleveland’s sadism and sexual perversion.
Again it is heartbreaking to read of how children have been mistreated by those they were brought up to respect. And again, the feeling that there is so much more out there that is yet to come out.
ReplyDeleteSearch Google for the sale of children by the Catholic Church in Spain, the website annfreespirit (don't be put off by her way of presenting) and black collar crime in Scotland.
Hi Peter, I read your post with interest. I know of Duffel and BSS, a friend went this route, I chose an alternative. Nonetheless I have connections to them and hear from someone there regularly about various items that appear in the news. We exchange emails about incidents that appear in the public domain. None of us can afford a news clipping service so a loose coalition of interested parties works very effectively.
ReplyDeleteWhen to come out? You know there is never a perfect time. You've been through a course, and clearly done some of the cerebral gymnastics that go with the subject. We all do these, some better than others and there is never a perfect time to jump from the plane - and we only ever make a single jump, the consequences of which are significant.
I jumped in 2001 and filed a complaint with the police. It was not very satisfactory for various reasons - I'll not bore you. It should have been a great deal easier - but there was a significant F.up factor by the police and others, the cost of which was borne by me.
That said, the case against the person who abused me is returning to court and the time frame is similar to your events. Each case is unique but there have been recent cases which have set a new direction for the prosecution of child abuse reported in adulthood. The direction of travel is at last accounting for people like me, and perhaps you.
If you have not seen it, consider watching a documentary titled Chosen, just Google it.
Thank you "Anonymous Feb 26, 2012 03:19 PM", I can't tell you how much your empathetic and affirming response means to me, and to know that I am not alone with this set of circumstances. You have put sharply into focus for me what reading the rest of this blog has meant emotionally. It has been cathartic to put my experience in a searchable public forum after 50 years and I am grateful for this opportunity. I will certainly check out "Chosen."
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to share some thoughts about my relatively brief involvement with Ealing Abbey. These days I consider myself agnostic, although I try to practice the John Main method of meditation, another product, this time positive, of Ealing Abbey. At the time (mid 90s) I was having something of a crisis of faith and, at the suggestion of a friend, went to have a discussion with Father Bernard Orchard. On an intellectual level I was impressed by his knowledge but my gut was telling me there was something not right. Of course, it’s easy to be wise after the facts have emerged but one response he gave now rings with bitter irony. I remember asking him about the Anglican branch of the Benedictine Order to which he responded that the Anglican monks do not have the “safety” of supervision by the Catholic Church. I know very little about Father Bernard but I do question whether a monk with such a high level of involvement at Ealing could have been wholly ignorant of what was going on.
I also used to attend the evening services conducted in chant by the monks and have always found this aesthetically beautiful and a meditative way to start the new week. Laurence Soper was the abbot at the time and I always found his imperious rap on the pew when it was time to stand somewhat threatening. For all I know this may be standard throughout the Benedictine Order but once again, with knowledge of Soper’s predilection for sexualized beatings it is easy for me to make the link with the violent, ritualistic behavior of Ronald Cleveland at Claremont School.
To Peter,
ReplyDeleteGo and report to the police whatever happened to you. They should keep it in confidence and you should not be publicly named. It will give you some closure if the "filthy little paedo's" are locked up (if not at least investigated). THEY SHOULD NOT and hopefully WILL NOT get away with their pathetic horrible crimes.
As one who has been down this road and got a successful result with the paedo locked up it may be easier for me to say this, but please do it. I repeat, they SHOULD NOT get away with their crimes.
Good luck pal!!
As for David Pearce - who's up for a public stoning outside the prison he's released from??
Is this site still alive?
ReplyDeleteThe Times comments today on a settlement of £50,000 compensation paid to a former pupil of St Benedict's School. This is in respect of abuse at the hands of David Pearce.
ReplyDeleteThe Deputy Head who is also the child protection officer at St Benedict's is leaving with a number of other very capable teachers.
ReplyDeleteIs there something else about to erupt? Is it the Management of the place driving them away, or have they too had enough from De Cintra ?
Perhaps as is very common the staff are simply moving on? Does everything have to have a sinister undertone?
DeleteThe Deputy Head is leaving to become Headmaster of another school. Hardly suggests that he's done a bad job or that the school's reputation is in crisis. 10-15% staff turnover is natural for any business.
Deleteer they wont be telling anyone about ex pupils getting 15000 for getting abused for two years solid at the hands of soper raped by pearce and maistri. still no appollogy or money. treated like shit dehumanized followed about for months .
ReplyDeleteThe Deputy Head to whom you refer is young and highly ambitious. He's leaving to take up a post as a Headteacher elsewhere, which seems to me to be a logical career move. To suggest otherwise is malicious. I am also in total agreement with 06:55, Peter you should report these crimes.
ReplyDeleteJonathan you must have some comments.
ReplyDeleteIf and when I have some solid information, I'll publish. I know (or have some information about) more than I publish, because I want to be pretty sure of the situation before I publish.
DeleteThere are lots of good teachers and support staff at that place. However, the management of St Benedicts is appalling. Huge sums of money are squandered on IT projects with little other than technical vanity being their usefulness. Property services are in total disarray and moral at an all time low. The guys on the ground have only ever been magnificent in their work ethic, but they are lions led by donkeys.
ReplyDeleteThe management at St Benedicts has always been an incompetent self serving clique, but its got worse in recent years. I very much doubt any of them would be capable of holding down a position were they to be employed elsewhere.
Still, you will probably see redundancies for the actual workers, but pay rises for the management.
Yet another questionnaire by Mr M. Nalewajko, what in heavens does this man do all day.
ReplyDeleteTheres lies damn lies and statistics and then there is the "independent" questionnaire by Nalewajko .. What a joke and a waste of money.
De Cintra is in charge and it shows, the staff turnover and lack of direction comes from the accountant who had to pay the 50k for Pearces crimes last week. We know this wont be the last claim. Who is paying for all this?
ReplyDelete08:37
ReplyDeleteThe Abbey has insurance, the claims are almost certainly all being paid by the insurers rather than directly out of charitable funds. But we will learn more when the Abbey sends the current year's accounts to the Charity Commission.
Who in their right mind would want the job as the child protection officer at that school ?
ReplyDeleteThe school has got to accept the horrors of it's past and ensure it never happens again. No St Benedicts priests should ever be let near students bar them being at the altar serving mass. The fact that Fr Pearce got 5 years is a disgrace as he has ruined countless lives. To move on the school must distance itself from the Abbey as the place will forever tainted by paedophiles.
ReplyDeletePearce may be "laicised" but he may still remain a solemnly professed monk of Ealing Abbey. This means the abbey has canonical obligations to him particularly in the area of material support.
ReplyDeleteIf Pearce believes that he wants to continue "playing at being a monk" and Ealing wishes to persist in its belief that it still functions as a "monastery" then we need to know whether they intend for Pearce to live at the abbey, another monastery or indeed another religious house.
The guise of religion has been used long enough to permit predators to continue in their depravity. Pearce is a particularly egregious example of a sinister, cynically manipulative cleric who capitalised on the advantages and deference such a religious office gave to him.
We need to find out his status with Ealing Abbey.
is there any update on pearce and soper. I live opposite the abbeyn and whist not a catholic I like to go in to it for compline when it is empty pretty much apart from the monks. I has sodomiswed at my own boarding school by a teacher and my god father for a number of years and am 61 years old and am still very sensitive to paedophiles and homosexuals I made a statement to the police a few years back about my abuser and he was arrested but not charged. He had been a headmaster of a catholic primary school not long before so gosh knows what he got up to as I knew him 45 years before
ReplyDeleteby the way I wrote a letter to Abbott shiperlee asking him about soper and pearce and he did not reply
ReplyDelete